Some of the most inspired and provocative thinkers, writers, artists, business people, teachers and other leaders drawn from myriad fields and from across the country and around the world all gathered in a single place - to teach, speak, lead, question, and answer at the 2006 Aspen Ideas Festival. Throughout the week, they all interacted with an audience of thoughtful people who stepped back from their day-to-day routines to delve deeply into a world of ideas, thought, and discussion.

Jim Collins

Jim Collins is a student and teacher of enduring great companies - how they grow, how they attain superior performance, and how good companies can become great companies. Having invested over a decade of research into the topic, Jim has authored or co-authored four books, including the classic Built to Last, a fixture on the Business Week best seller list for more than six years, and has been translated into 25 languages.
His work has been featured in Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Harvard Business Review, and Fast Company.

Bishop T.D. Jakes

Bishop T. D. (Thomas Dexter) Jakes is an American televangelist. He currently is the pastor of The Potter's House, a primarily African-American non-denominational megachurch in Dallas, Texas. His views on God and water baptism is Oneness Pentecostal.

Colin L. Powell

Gen. Colin L. Powell served as the 65th US Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. As a professional soldier for 35 years, Sec. Powell held many command and staff positions and rose to the rank of four-star general.

Judith Rodin

Judith Rodin is president of The Rockefeller Foundation, one of the world’s leading philanthropic organizations. She was previously president of the University of Pennsylvania, and provost of Yale University.

Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson is a Republican politician who served from 1979 to 1997 as a United States Senator from Wyoming.

Thomas Stewart

Thomas A. Stewart is a member of the Board of Editors of Fortune magazine, where his monthly column "The Leading Edge," is read by 870,000 readers. Stewart pioneered the field of intellectual capital in a series of landmark Fortune articles that have earned him an international reputation as the leading expert on the subject.